Love is timeless
by v-the-valiant
Summary: TKA-verse. What if Xiang Qin was pregnant at the end of the show? What if it all went wrong?
1. Bad Turn

Disclaimer: Wow. Never have I wanted to own something this much. Even so, They Kiss Again does NOT belong to me. If it did, I would have already sent a script to Nick Cassavetes so that he can direct yet another timeless romantic drama.

He knew immediately something was wrong.

"The baby's crowning! Very good, Xiang Qin, just one more push!"

Throughout the whole labor, she had his hand in a vice, squeezing so tight during contractions that he was sure the bones were bruised. But just now, during this last push, she barely managed to hold on to his hand, her hand trembling from the effort.

"Xiang Qin?" He tore his eyes away from where his child was entering the world to look at his wife. She was white, her head lolling on the bed. Something was _definitely_ wrong.

'Xiang Qin!" immediately, he felt for a pulse, his mind racing through the possibilities.

"Just one more, and you're done!" the doctor shouted.

"She can't do it anymore, something…something's wrong!" Her pulse was too weak and getting weaker. Zhi Shu's mind was racing, yet blank at the same time. Medical information passed like a roller coaster through his consciousness, but all he could see before him was Xiang Qin. Xiang Qin's face was white and drawn with pain, her eyes fluttering and chest heaving to catch her breath.

"Zhi Shu…" she moaned, "the baby?"

He snapped back into reality. The doctor had pulled the baby out with forceps. He listened. No crying. The only sound came from the hurried whispers of the doctor and nurses crouched over their baby and Xiang Qin's side.

"Fine. The baby's out." He lied, chest tight and throat thick. "You can relax now." He held her too-cold hand desperately, raging at his inability to think, to act, to save his wife that was...

She smiled weakly - _so unlike herself!_ - and closed her eyes, falling silent in the already too quiet room. The only sound…the only sound…

_Thu-thump…Thu-thump…thu-thump…_

There. A gallop-rhythm heartbeat.

"Pulmonary embolism." he said, looking up and noticing the doctor and nurses around Xiang Qin for the first time.

The doctor, busy intubating the already unconscious Xiang Qin, looked up anxiously. "What?"

"The heart rhythm. It's a pulmonary embolism." His voice sounded hollow even to his own ears. "Her mother…her mother died of a pulmonary embolism while giving birth*." Fear overtook him.

Not even second-guessing him, the doctor turned to the nurse beside him. "Get some heparin in here NOW." The doctor glanced at heart monitor with it's rapidly falling blood pressure and sighed. "Better get some streptokinase in here too**."

"Xiang Qin, look at me. Xiang Qin." He kept on repeating her name, ignoring the activity around him, until he felt someone bodily drag him back.

"Dr. Jiang, you need to get out." Zhi Shu threw them off and pushed his way back to Xiang Qin, only to be pulled back forcefully again. "Dr. Jiang-"

"Get off!" He struggled angrily as he was dragged out of the room. "Xiang Qin, _Xiang Qin!" _

"Dr. Jiang-" His elbow made contact with their ribs. The man's grip momentarily loosened, Zhi Shu made a dash for the door to Xiang Qin's room.

"_Zhi Shu!_" A fist landed squarely with Zhi Shu's jaw, and he was thrown and pinned to the ground. It was Qi Tai. His eyes were rimmed with red.

"Zhi Shu…" Qi Tai got up and offered Zhi Shu a hand. He felt like it was almost an out-of-body experience, as if it wasn't his feet that were moving to get up. As if it wasn't his body that fell boneless against the wall. As if it wasn't his forehead pressed against the cold tile.

Not another word passed between them. Qi Tai just watched silently, eyes flitting from the door with the broken woman inside to the broken man outside, shoulders heaving in soundless sobs.

*I know, Xiang Qin's mom did NOT necessarily die while giving birth to her, but I will make it as such. Poetic liberty.

**For the non-medical, a pulmonary embolism(PE) is a life-threatening condition in which there is a clot in the lungs. To treat a PE, the clot can be removed by using blood thinners called anti-coagulants like heparin. In life-threatening cases, thrombolytics - clot-busting drugs - like streptokinase are used. PEs in general can be caused by the stress pregnancy puts on the body, and family incidences of PE can increase a person's risk of getting a clot.


	2. Bad News

DISCLAIMER: Same old same old. I don't own the darn series as much as I would love to.

NOTE: I'm trying not to repeat myself when I explain the medical stuff, so if you forgot what something is, check the last chapter. Enjoy!

It was as if time stood still for him alone. The hospital kept running, staff members bustling up and down the hallway, barely noticing the man on the ground with his head in his arms.

Finally, the door opened and Zhi Shu immediately scrambled up to greet the doctor. Relief flooded through him - no more wondering or waiting. He would _know_. He- Suddenly, he didn't want to know anymore. Fear of hearing the worst robbed him of all his strength and made him suddenly weak at the knees.

"Dr. Jiang," the doctor said as he approached him. "Your baby is fine. She's breathing fine. It was just a scare."

Swallowing hard, he opened his mouth to ask what he wanted to know most but no words came out.

"Xiang Qin…you were right. It was an acute pulmonary embolism. No way we could have caught it, it was asymptomatic*. But…Xiang Qin…Zhi Shu…" the doctor spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Xiang Qin…she's bleeding out."

His heart clenched. He knew. _He knew_ what that meant. Things were going badly. Using anticoagulants and thrombolytics always contained the slight risk of hemorrhage, but in these severe cases, the risk was usually disregarded. Leave it to Xiang Qin to fall into the less than 3% that experienced complications. She's the person with the highest probability in the world of things going wrong, but this time it was no joke. It wasn't stepping in dog shit or getting soaked by a passing car. This was her _life_.

"We've already packed her to control the bleeding, but it hasn't really helped. Her PE still hasn't been resolved yet, either." The doctor held out a sheet to Zhi Shu. "I need you to sign consent for an embolectomy. That way, we'll be able to take her off the blood-thinners which will hopefully stabilize the bleeding. We'll do an IVC filter** to prevent recurrent PE."

Zhi Shu nodded his head and reached for the paper.

"Zhi Shu..." Zhi Shu looked up unwillingly, sensing the foreboding in his voice. "There's no surgeon currently on rotation in the hospital that's experienced in this procedure. I have paged Dr. Cheng, and he said he'll get here as soon as he can to perform the surgery."

Silence.

"He should be here in an hour."

"She could bleed out by then." Zhi Shu stated quietly.

The doctor stayed silent for a long moment. "Yes. Yes, she could."

Zhi Shu looked back down, clenching his jaw so tightly it hurt. He covered his mouth with his hand as his breathing started speeding up. Never had he felt so trapped, so utterly hopeless. It seemed like no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't catch up. Xiang Qin was always just one step ahead, fading away.

"One last thing." Zhi Shu closed his eyes, tears slipping out. "In case of continued hemorrhage, you should prepare yourself for a potential hysterectomy***." The doctor held out a second paper.

With trembling hands, he took the two papers and signed them.

*asymptomatic - without symptoms

**IVC filter - this is a way to prevent future PE by placing a filter in the blood vessel. This is very important as Xiang Qin is still at risk for more clots, and they can no longer use the blood thinners

*** hysteroctomy - removal of the uterus. After this, a woman is unable to have more children.

**** Summary of what's going on for the non-medical: Basically what's going on is the following. Like I said last time, Xiang Qin was given heparin and streptokinase (anticoagulants and thrombolytics) to thin the blood enough to destroy the clot in her lungs preventing her from breathing. This in itself is a life-threatening condition. However, in a small percentage of cases, administration of these drugs can cause severe bleeding (AKA hemorrhage). The problem here is that the clot still hasn't been dissolved, so they're caught between a rock and a hard stone. Should they take Xiang Qin off of the blood thinners to let her die from the clot, or leave her on the blood thinners only to have her die from bleeding out? One way to prevent bleeding is by packing the vaginal passage with gauze, the way you would put pressure on any cut to control bleeding, but it isn't working. Instead, the doctor is presenting Zhi Shu with the option of an embolectomy, a surgical procedure that can remove the clot, allowing them to take her off the blood thinners while still taking care of the clot. However, if Xiang Qin continues to bleed, they may have to take more drastic options and actually perform a hysterectomy.


	3. Bad Reaction

Again…still DO NOT own it

Thanks everyone for reading! I'd really love reviews – I'm trying to become a better writer, but I can't unless I hear some feedback from y'all.

Special shout-out to Luri22 who not only reviewed, but gave me some wonderful affirmation in my personal belief that ArJoe is unmatchable. I'm not even sure if that's a word, but there.

Zhi Shu didn't need to hear anything else. He swept past the doctor into Xiang Qin's room.

There she was. Still and quiet. She was never this still and quiet, even while sleeping. That's what he loved about her - her inexhaustible energy, always doing everything with a smile.

Swallowing hard, he sat beside her and took her cold hand in his, pressing it against his cheek. A twitch. He whipped his head to see Xiang Qin open her eyes. She was so _pale_. Even her lips were bloodless, and it terrified him.

"Xiang Qin…" he whispered, looking into her eyes intensely. She couldn't respond because of the trach tube, but he could read as clear as day what she was thinking - _I'm scared_. It hurt him to see her like that, and he turned away sharply so that she wouldn't see his tears.

She was the one person in the world he could show tears to, show his weaknesses, but at all costs, he would not let her see them today. He breathed deeply and faced her again with a weak smile.

"It'll be all right."

It was the trust in her eyes that undid him. The way she looked at him with such faith, when he knew that he very well may not be able to deliver. He clasped her hand tighter, kissing the ring on her middle finger that was a symbol of their love. She was his second button - how could he survive without her? That one day without her - the morning he woke up to find her gone - still gave him nightmares. Xiang Qin doesn't know, but sometimes he'll dream about finding her side of the bed empty again, and he'd be startled awake in cold sweat. He never could go back to sleep after those dreams, so he would just spend the night gazing at Xiang Qin.

And this child... what would she do? Being a father had scared him enough as it was, but without her, Zhi Shu would have to take the role of mother and father. Parenting was Xiang Qin's strength, not his. As forgetful and careless as she may be, it was Xiang Qin that knew the true meaning of empathy, kindness, and love. He just struggled to mimic her, barely managing a bad imitation. Wasn't it supposed to be a give and take, where the child learns from both parents? Love from Xiang Qin, depth from Zhi Shu. He didn't know if he could do Xiang Qin's half...Would this child be able to feel his love?

Abruptly he stood up, knocking the chair over, and nearly bolted out of the room. Even as he was doing it, he knew. He knew that he, Zhi Shu the genius of over 200 IQ who could do anything, was running away. He ran harder than ever before, desperate for some sort of escape, the walls of the hospital closing in all too closely.

He realized where he was as soon as he stopped, leaning on his knees to catch his breath - the nursery.

Chest still heaving, he walked hesitantly over to the window to see the newborns, and there she was. 2nd from the corner. He stared at their little girl breathing rhythmically in the incubator. Even as an infant, he could see that she had her mother's eyes with long curling eyelashes. Could she grow up without her mother?

No. NO. He straightened himself with determination. He would not let Xiang Qin die. At all costs, he'd save her.


	4. Zhi Shu's Love

Author's Note: I've been thinking, I've been thinking! I just don't know how to progress quite yet…anyone that has ideas, just send me a message/review! Hearing other people's thoughts on how the story could proceed gets my juices going… in the meantime, I have created my first MV ever! This sort of depicts the mood of the story – Zhi Shu's love for Xiang Qin.

youtube - .com/watch?v=UPlRqR-On58


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